


Marvel: The Endgame

by Super_Danvers



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Captain Marvel - Freeform, F/F, Multi, Post Infinity War, Sisters, Time Travel, carol x valkyrie, carolmaria, endgame battle, future monica rambeau, goose - Freeform, thanos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2019-12-29 19:13:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18300296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Super_Danvers/pseuds/Super_Danvers
Summary: Amidst the battle against Thanos, Carol Danvers suddenly vanishes. Declared officially 'missing', Carol is found in the middle of nowhere - or commonly known as Louisiana.The only problem is, it's not 2019. It's 1996. And Maria Rambeau is still alive, and Monica is still only twelve. And Carol has no way back. Now she has 24 years of explaining to do.





	1. Crash Landing

It was the summer of 1996 when Monica Rambeau saw the shooting star. It would’ve been difficult not to see it. A huge ball of fire heading straight for Louisiana as it twisted and turned in the sky, burning through the night. Monica had been sat on the roof, waiting for her mother to finish her shower so they could name constellations. The comet had appeared after about ten minutes of the twelve-year old being sat there. When she’d realised the fire ball heading towards her, she’d gotten off the roof sharpish and dashed inside.

“Mom!” She’d yelled, hammering her fists on the bathroom door.

Her mother had appeared within seconds, a robe thrown over herself hastily and demanding what in the hell her daughter wanted. Monica had dragged her outside, just in time for the comet to soar over their heads so close that it singed the trees around the house and crash just a few metres away from the house. It had been lucky that the Rambeau’s nearest neighbours lived over a hundred metres away otherwise there would’ve been some very awkward questions the next morning. The comet hadn’t left a huge crater but was still large enough for both Maria and Monica to lie in comfortably. What was in the crater was…unexpected.

Maria peeked over the top of the crater uncertainly. Clad in royal red, blue and gold with dirty blonde hair dirtier than ever, cuts and grazes covering her body and laying strewn in the dirt – was Carol Danvers. The Rambeau women looked at each other, their faces a mixture of fear and confusion. Then to determination.

Maria leaped into the crater, hooking her arms under Carol’s shoulders and knees, hoisting her up bridal style. She barked orders to her daughter, who ran on ahead to make up a clean bed for the blonde and retrieve the first aid kit from the kitchen. Maria always kept the kit handy, in case something like this might ever happen.

Struggling over the threshold, Maria lay Carol down on the couch, brushing her hair out of her face. “Carol? Carol, wake up its me, Maria! Carol?” She questioned, patting her cheek gently.

Carol looked almost unrecognisable. Her left leg was bent the wrong way, flopping off the end of the sofa uselessly. Her wrist was purple and blue around the bone, swollen like a grapefruit. Cuts and bruises were everywhere, Maria couldn’t even tell if they were from the impact of the crash or not. She had a black eye, possibly some broken ribs amongst other things. Her face was grubby, as was everything else. Maria patted her face again.

“Carol, sweetie? You need to wake up!” She tried to keep her voice reassuring but seeing her best friend in such a state was making it difficult.

Something was flashing through the blonde’s glove, resting in the palm of her good hand. Maria gently pried her friend’s fingers apart, just in case they were broken, and retrieved the small object. It was a pager: the one her agent friend had kept on his belt. A small message was scrawled on it through the cracked screen, flashing weakly.

_[ ON YOUR LEFT ]_

After a few seconds it stopped flashing and went dead. Maria discarded it on the coffee table as Monica hurried in, carrying the heavy first aid kit with both hands. Maria smiled briefly as her daughter pushed the box towards her, then returning to seriousness as she busted it open and began applying it to Carol’s mangled torso.

“Monica, undo her zipper whilst I hold her shoulders.” She instructed coolly, cracking an eyebrow at her daughter. “Let’s hope she wears clothes underneath this crap, eh?”

Monica let herself smile, but her mother could see the worry for her hero. “Yeah.”

Maria quickly moved the equipment out of the way, muttering an apology to Carol before wrenching her shoulders forward into an upright position. It earned a physical groan from the unconscious superhero, confirming the broken ribs theory. Monica was quick to wip around behind Carol and started dragging the zip down.

“Don’t worry – she’s not naked.” The twelve-year-old grinned, pushing the material over Carol’s shoulders and pointing to the black bra underneath.

With a little struggle and more groans of pain from the now stirring blonde, the two Rambeau woman finally managed to remove the suit and get an extent of her injuries. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as originally thought. There were bruises dotting her left side, she had maybe two or three ribs broken. That meant crutches, possibly wheelchair. But first, cleaning her cuts. Dirt was underneath her nails, and dangerously close to the cuts on her arms. Little moans of discomfort escaped Carol’s lungs as Monica tried to stop the infections.

After a few cuts, and old Nirvana tunes on in the background, Carol started to come to properly. Dozing in and out of consciousness as Monica and Maria continued to tend to her wounds gently. On a few occasions, she’d make very soft words – but too slurred for anyone to make out what they were. Monica swore she’d said the name of the famous guy who was the face of the world war for the American military. Or something. Carol didn’t make any proper words until Maria and Monica had managed to drag her upstairs to Maria’s bed and woke up two hours later.  

Well, she didn’t make proper words the moment she woke up because she woke up screaming.

Maria had been dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth when suddenly she found fingers wrapped around her throat and her head connecting with the back of the floor. Carol had woken up and immediately resorted to strangling whatever held her in place, tumbling out of bed and landing on top of her captor. Maria stared back into the wild eyes of her best friend, glowing like a million suns in a pitch-black sky. She had to squeeze her eyes shut they were so bright.

“Carol – c- ca-“ Maria gasped, her voice strained by the hand crushing her throat.

The hero, with bandages all over her body, was struggling. Maria could hear it in her voice. The injuries were setting in quickly, affecting her injured wrist and the ribs hurt her back. She was barely keeping her weight up, leaning too heavily on her broken leg. But Maria could still feel those glowing eyes focused on her cheeks and her good hand subtly warming up around her throat. Carol’s knees, one on the floor and the other digging into Maria’s abdomen, were bony and hard. The hand that was wrapped around her vocal chords were also spindly and thin. She was weak, weaker than she had been.

“Auntie Carol?” A small voice emerged from the doorway.

“Sss…sta…” Maria gasped, letting go of Carol’s hand and slapping the wooden floor uselessly, trying to warn her daughter away. She dared to open her eyes, seeing Monica stood in the doorway above them.

What she didn’t see was the fire fading from Carol’s eyes or feel the grip around her neck cooling and loosening. Carol fell onto Maria with an exhausted thump, falling back into her slumber as soon as her head hit the floor.

Maria pushed her to the side with a grunt. “God, you got heavy.” She muttered, soothing the now broken skin around her neck. Carol didn’t respond, remaining unconscious on the wooden floor beside her.

“Mom, are you okay?” Monica asked worriedly, helping her mother up onto her feet. She reached up, touching the front of her neck gently. “I can get you a warm cloth, hold on.”

“Help me get her back into bed first.” Maria said with a strained yet soft smile. Noticing Monica was still staring at her neck, Maria waved her off. “Don’t worry, she didn’t mean it. Just a nightmare.”

Monica eyed Carol’s fists as they aided her back into bed and tucking her in again. “She’ll be okay, right?” She asked, reaching out and holding the blonde’s hand. “She looks different.”

Studying Carol, a little closer, Maria could see that Monica was right. She looked a little older, not much, but a tiny bit. The scar she’d gotten on her neck from her crash in 89’ had faded slightly. There was a new one, resting just under her eye that looked newer. Her hair was longer than it had been, or maybe it was straighter. Maria couldn’t really tell, but she knew her friend had changed again.

“C’mon, let’s have something to eat.” She said quietly, her eyes never leaving Carol as she guided her daughter out of the room.

+

Crickets sang outside amongst the long grass in Louisiana as Maria and Monica Rambeau ate their dinner that night. Maria had had another shower due to the amount of dirt she’d gotten on herself from the crater, and now sat in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her head.

“Do you think Carol will be okay?” Monica asked innocently as she spooned herself some tomato soup.

“I don’t know, baby, I don’t know.” Maria admitted, handing her daughter a piece of bread as she ate her own dinner. “What do you think?”

The child grinned, glancing at the air force shirt she wore briefly. “I reckon she’ll be okay. She’s strong.” She commented, turning her spoon up to the ceiling. “After all, she glows.”

Maria’s fingers traced around the thin bruise absent-mindedly as she thought about the last time, she’d seen Carol, that had been nearly eight months ago. Maria had hoped the hero would swoop by for Christmas, even if it was just to say hello, but December had come and gone without a hint of the royal red and blue. She’d held out little hope for Monica’s birthday, but when that past, Maria convinced herself that Carol wasn’t going to come back. She wasn’t angry, she knew Carol would never purposefully miss a Christmas, or a birthday. She never had before the crash. Carol hadn’t changed a great deal when she’d first come back with Agent Fury, Maria had noticed. She was a little more reserved, certainly a bit cold to begin with, but had softened as memories had begun to return. She’d been back to her silly old self within no time.

This time would be different.

 

++

 

The next time Carol woke up – nearly two days later - both the Rambeaus were sat by her side. The moment Maria spotted the blonde’s eyes stirring, she moved Monica way out of arm range, just in case. However, this time, Carol didn’t wake up screaming like a maniac. Instead, her dark eyes peeped open, squinting into the bedroom. They were red, like she’d been rubbing at them too much,  Her fingers flexed a little as her whole body stretched, letting out a groan as she felt all the broken bones shifting. The two women gave her a moment as she opened her eyes properly, squinting again as they focused on them.

Carol frowned. “…Maria?” She croaked, her voice hoarse and scratchy. Her eyes didn’t leave Maria’s as the other woman approached, sitting on the end of the bed and taking her fingers in hers.

“Hey buddy.” She said with a gentle smile. “How are you doing?”

But Carol only stared back at her with a horrified expression, her mouth hanging agape like it was frozen in terror. Her hand was rigid in Maria’s, fixed and cold. It only lasted for a moment though, as tears started forming in Carol’s eyes. She bit her wobbling lip – lifting her weak arms and tried to hook them around Maria’s shoulders. Her friend leaned in slowly, keeping aware that the blonde could go rogue again at any second. Maria’s hands laid on the headboard, tightening when she felt Carol hug her tighter. They relaxed when she heard muffled sobs coming from her friend. Carol cried into Maria’s shoulder, holding her jacket tightly by balling up her fists. Maria had never seen Carol cry like this. Her sobs were rugged, drawn and raw – scratching at her already hoarse throat.

“Maria!” She gasped, hugging her tighter and tighter, as if she would never let go. They stayed like that for what felt like years until Maria managed to pry Carol off her.

The two women stared at each other. Carol’s mouth said happiness and relief, but her eyes spoke another message. There was pleasant confusion, a state of heavenly bliss placed in a purgatory of existence. They were searching Maria up and down, as if trying to decipher whether she was real or not. The blonde looked down at herself, and the message her eyes were preaching reached her faltered smile. Maria thought Carol would pass out again as she stared at the bandages covering her body. She’d been dressed in a clean sports bra and knee length joggers, but what wasn’t covered by black clothing – was covered by white bandage. There was a casted one on her sprained wrist, no sling needed – another banded around her middle and a cast on the broken leg. Stitches were lined up her arms, a particularly long one on her right forearm that went nearly from wrist to elbow.

“Th...” Carol broke into a series of short coughs as she tried to clear her throat. “This isn’t…right.” She finally managed.

Carol was staring at her hands in fascination, as if she’d never seen them before. When there was a small bang from the back of the bedroom, her eyes shot up. Maria looked over shoulder. Monica, who looked sheepish and apologetic, had stubbed her toe on the end of the dresser in an attempt to slip out of the room unnoticed.

“Sorry.” She said quietly and continued to try to shuffle away.

Carol’s eyes strained through the dimly lit bedroom, a frown almost stitching her eyebrows together. “Monica? Is that you?” She called out quietly. Carol put a hand to her brow, squinting further to the back of the room. “Lieutenant Trouble?”

The girl kept to the shadows worriedly, looking at her mother approval. Maria glanced between Carol’s outreached hand and Monica, who was balling the bottom of her shirt in her hands. After a few seconds and making a judgement, she nodded and opened her hand to Monica. Her daughter took it and walked forward timidly.

“Hi, Auntie Carol.” She greeted quietly as she stepped into the light.

Monica took Carol’s good hand, and let the blonde pull her a little closer. Carol studied the little girl, tilting her head from left to right as she ran her thumb over her cheek.

“Is that you?” Carol croaked, pulling at Monica’s curly hair between her thumb and finger, almost to test as if it was real. “Is it really you? I haven’t been dreaming, have I? What year is this?”

Carol wasn’t smiling as she asked the questions, in fact she looked more like she was about to cry. Her bad hand wobbled as badly as her bottom lip did. Maria put her hand on Monica’s shoulder, and pulled her a little closer to her side.

“It’s 1996. Carol, what’s going on?” Maria questioned, this time with a firmer tone.

Carol let her good hand flop back into her lap, trying to ignore the pain that wracked through her ribs as she did. Her shoulders slumped as she let out a heavy sigh. Maria had never seen her like this before, so down and almost…washed out.

“I don’t know how-“

“Spit it out, Carol.” Maria interrupted. She wasn’t here for the dramatics. “Come on, you can tell us how it is.”

“I don’t think-“

“Carol!”

Maria could tell she was annoying her friend, but she couldn’t take any secrets. If she was going to help her, there needed to be complete honesty. That was how it had always been, and how it would always be.

Carol sighed again, running a hand through her hair. Finally, she seemed to just let it go, and looked at her friend dead in the eyes. “I’m from the year 2019, and half the galaxy has been eradicated. Maria, you’re dead.”


	2. Monica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After managing to sleep through the night, Maria still wants answers from an ever-stubborn Carol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorry this took so long! I've been without internet for DAYS!

One thing that had not changed about Carol Danvers in the time she’d been gone from Louisiana, and that was her stubbornness. The blonde refused to answer any of the Rambeaus questions until Maria had sat her in an upright position in a bed, brought her the cracked pager and put her suit within arm’s reach. Monica had been promptly sent to bed – due to not only it being her bedtime, but also because Carol refused to talk with her in the room. It was almost an hour before Maria was sat, cross-legged, at the end of the bed facing Carol, who had three pillows propping up her back to keep her comfortable.

“Will you tell me what’s going on, now?” She implored.

Carol sighed, letting her head roll back on its shoulders. She’d been trying to put it off as much as possible, she regretted even saying anything but the whole situation had caught her off guard. One moment she’d been –

“Carol?” Maria was looking her with those big dark eyes of hers – wanting her to explain. Her bottom lip was wobbling slightly, her eyes wide with concern for her friend.

Carol exhaled again. “It’s hard to explain.” She muttered, fiddling with the broken pager in her hands, ignoring the flashes of pain that went through her sprained wrist. The blonde glanced up at Maria. “-and I’m not sure you should know. Monica _cannot_ know.”

Maria reached forward slowly and took the pager, putting it on the bedside table and replacing it with her own hands in Carol’s. “Carol-“ She began slowly. “You told me that I’m going to be dead by 2019 and half the galaxy is dead. I need to know what’s going on.”

The two women stared at each other for a couple of moments, Maria squeezing her hand. Carol knew she shouldn’t say, knew it would be horrible, knew she could never explain what had happened in the twenty-four years she’d been gone. The blonde ran her thumb over Maria’s knuckle and with a last glance at the dark eyes fixated on hers, she spoke.

“I don’t know how I’m here. One moment I was – “ She bit her lip. “And the next, I was here with you.”

Maria nodded for her to go on. “Just tell me what happened before that.”

Carol stared at her for a second, like she was insane. She let out a small chuckle. “God, where to start? Um…well I was in 2019 – not as nice as this year – I’ll say that now.” She said with a smile, which faded as soon as it had arrived. “And everybody I knew – apart from Monica – was dead.”

That earned a small smile from Maria, fresh hope being renewed in her eyes. “Monica’s alive? Half the galaxy and she’s alive?”

“I knew you’d like that fact.” Carol commented. “Alive and kicking. Oh – and married. Like, super married.”

Maria grinned properly then, glad her daughter was happy in the future, but quickly waved it off. “Back on topic. What were you doing in 2019?”  She implored, trying to keep the image of her daughter being married at the back of her mind. It probably wouldn’t stay there long. “Were you fighting someone?”

Carol’s face turned from a fond grin to a twisted expression of rage – something Maria had never seen before. It was like her face caved in on itself: the corners of her mouth were pulled down, her eyes narrowed till they were almost shut, her brow almost knitted together.

“Thanos.” Carol said with a furious tone, her eyes clouding into almost total pitch black. She looked like something out of a horror film. “He killed…everybody.”

Maria squeezed Carol’s hand. “You’re safe here, Carol.” She reminded her softly.

Carol ignored her, her mind now seemingly elsewhere.  “I almost had him, he was right there, in front of me. We were so close and then –“  Carol’s hand made an angry fist, and then her expression seemed to clear. “-and then I ended up here.”

Maria studied Carol’s body language carefully; noticing how the heroine’s shoulders were tightened, her lips pursed together in confusion, her good hand clenched in its fist. There was no binary energy even crackling from it, let alone the hand in the cast. Carol followed her friend’s gaze, frowning and then clenching her hand tighter. Nothing.

“Now I don’t have any powers. Great.” The blonde tutted, throwing up her hands in frustration. She winced as she felt her bad wrist tweak. Carol stared at her leg, then swung her good arm, sending the pager and her suit off the bedside table. “Shit!” She cursed furiously.

Maria took Carol’s face in both hands, holding her still as the other woman started to shake with emotion. “It’s okay, Carol, it’s okay. Look, you’ll get better.” She told her forcefully, leaving no tone for argument. The former pilot pointed at Carol’s casted leg. “You’ve dealt with worse than a broken leg, Carol.”

Carol didn’t say anything, but Maria could see she was visibly starting to relax again. She let go of her friend’s face and went to pick up the pager and the suit. “You should rest. You’ve had a busy day, we can start to make sense of it tomorrow, yeah?”

Carol sighed, watching the suit be folded over the end of the bed and the pager be put back onto the table. Feeling her watching eyes on her, Maria offered the other woman the pager, pressing it into the palm of her good hand. With no words being spoken between them, Maria helped Carol lie down flat: placing a cushion underneath her bad leg to alleviate it, tucking the duvet up to underneath her chin and placing a heated blanket over the top.

“That okay?”

Carol pressed the pager up to her mouth, shutting her eyes and just offered a small smile. “Thanks.”

Maria returned the smile, placed a kiss to the blonde’s bruised forehead before heading to walk out of the room and take a place on the sofa. As she passed the bed again, something caught her by the wrist. Maria looked down to see Carol’s good hand wrapped around it, the blonde staring at her from the bed.

“I’m really sorry, Maria, that I wasn’t there. I’m so sorry.” She said. Maria could almost hear a whimper in her voice, like a kicked puppy. “I would’ve been, I just…I didn’t know. I lost track of time.”

Maria raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?” Carol let go of her wrist, tucking it back underneath the blankets. She didn’t say anything, just shut her eyes. Maria took that as a reserved dismissal and so went to pull the door shut. “Goodnight, Carol.”

++

 

Maria woke the next morning to the sun shining through the living room window, the smell of bacon and eggs filling the house. Looking at the clock that hung on the wall, it was only just past eight in the morning.  As she lifted her head dozily, Maria saw a shadow rush past the window, a familiar laugh following it. She frowned, that was Carol’s laugh.

Outside, Carol was sat in a chair with a plate of breakfast in her lap and her casted leg had been propped up on a chair. Dressed in one of Maria’s old flight suits, she was facing one of Maria’s broken planes, laughing at it. Monica had climbed into the cockpit, and was pretending to be the pilot. She was sounding off all the correct flight terms, making Carol laugh as she remembered them all.

“What’s going on here, then?” Maria smiled as she leaned in the doorway of the house.

Monica lifted the goggles she’d found off her face, grinning at her mother wildly. “I’m showing Carol how good a pilot I’m gonna be!” She laughed.

Maria nodded, rolling her eyes. As Monica pulled the goggles back over her eyes, Maria sauntered over and flopped down on the grass beside Carol. “Is she going to be a pilot?” She asked, breathing in the smell of Carol’s bacon.

The blonde handed her a space streak of it. “Technically yes.” She murmured in response, her eyes remaining on Monica’s antics. “Doesn’t fly out much as far as I know.”

It achieved a small smirk from Maria as she ate the bacon contentedly. “As much as you?”

Carol snorted, and looked at Maria with a sideways grin. “Nobody could _ever_ fly as much as me.” She boasted proudly.

The two women laughed briefly, before a frown came over Maria’s face. “How are you even out here?” She asked, gesturing to the propped-up leg.

Carol pointed to the giggling girl in goggles. “She’s very strong.”

Maria elbowed her best friend fondly. “You mean that you’re very persistent.” She chuckled knowingly. Whilst the two settled in their quiet laughter, Maria noticed Carol still had the broken pager in her hand. “Have you been trying to call Fury?” She asked, pointing to the pager.

Carol squinted in the sun, looking at anything but the two Rambeau women, running her thumb gently over the cracked screen. “No point.” She muttered, holding the pager up uselessly. “Broken.”

“You can’t fix it?”

“He wouldn’t know what to do anyway.” Carol replied, still looking away from her best friend. “Besides, I don’t think I could face him again.”

When Maria remained silent, Carol offered her the plate of food she hadn’t eaten. The other woman took it, eating the bacon quietly. “How come?” She pursued gently, knowing she was toeing the line a little by asking.

Carol sighed, seemingly trying to sum up the courage to reply before she finally took another breath and spoke. “He’s dead. In the future, I mean.” She managed, staring at her hands in her lap. “I don’t think I could meet with someone I know is going to be a ghost the next time I see them.”

“Well what about me? I’m supposed to be dead, aren’t I?” Maria pressed, trying to crane her neck to look up at the blonde.

“Yeah, something you’re taking remarkably well.” Carol noted dryly. “-and I didn’t really have a choice when I made a small crater in your back garden, did I?”

Maria laughed. “I’m just glad you missed the plane.” She remarked, nodding to the little fighter plane that her daughter was still sat in. “Would have cost a fortune if you’d sent that up in flames.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, actually. Always meant to.” Carol replied, gesturing to the house around them. “How do you afford to live in all of this? They never paid us this kind of money when we were in the air force, even with Mar-Vell’s little ‘donations.”

Maria nodded. “Don’t miss a trick, do you? After the crash –“ She explained, eyeing Carol. “They kind of, well, they gave me hush money. You know about the cover up? They didn’t want anyone telling so they gave me this big box to shut up and leave the air force. They knew I was close with you, and with the Professor.”

“Ah, so they kicked you out.” Carol summarised. “So, you fix fighter planes now? God, really wish we’d done all this catching up before I – well – _went_.”

“Didn’t you ever come back? After you left, I mean. You didn’t come back?” Maria frowned. When Carol remained silent and looked away again, Maria nodded. “Oh. That’s why you were apologising last night. You never came back. Glad to know you care.”

Maria got up, putting the plate on the ground and heading over to the plane. Carol kept quiet, watching her friend walk over to Monica, and fish her out of the plane. She wanted with all her heart to pull her back, tell her how sorry she was. But she couldn’t. She had a broken leg, and no excuse. As always. Monica looked confused, and hurt, as her mother marched her back inside with an ice like grip on her shoulder.

“Mom? Auntie Carol?” She questioned, but received no answer from either woman.

It was another ten minutes until Maria returned to Carol. The faint sound of water in the distance told Carol that Monica had gone to have a shower. Maria sat on her haunches in front of the blonde. “So, tell me, after you left in ’95, when did you come back?”

Carol could feel Maria glaring at her, and forced herself to look at her friend in the face again. “I didn’t.” She mumbled.

“You wanna tell me why that is?”

Carol shook her head. “I can’t. I’m sorry, I really can’t tell you. I wish I had an excuse – but I don’t. I just – lost track of time.” She attempted weakly.

“So from ’95 onwards, neither I nor Monica saw you until 2019, am I right?” Maria spat. Carol could tell from her tone that she was more hurt than angry. “What about Monica, hm? Did you go to her graduation, her wedding? Were you there for her, like you promised?”

Carol only stared back at her friend. “I was at their wedding.” She replied softly. “I was late.”

Maria stared back at her incredulously, the anger from her eyes fading. Eventually it reached the corners of her mouth and she couldn’t resist a small smile. “Typical.”

The blonde tried to hide her smile, hiding her face by staring at her lap again. “Lovely reception though. You’d gone to find where her veil was, apparently.” She mentioned. “But once you got to it, the speech was wonderful.”

“You didn’t make one?” Maria questioned.

Carol shook her head, another coy smile wiring itself onto her face. “Decided to keep out of the way. Fury was there.”

That earned another eyebrow raise. “Fury was there?” Maria echoed. “Why was Fury there?”

Carol smiled fondly. “Yeah, it was one of his agents that she married.” She commented.

Maria opened her mouth to speak again – but was this time interrupted by a voice yelling out the window. “Mom!”

She squinted upwards, looking at her daughter half hanging out of the bathroom window. Her usually untamed hair was damp, and hanging down by her shoulders, accompanied by Carol’s old red air force t-shirt. “Yeah, hun?”

“Auntie Carol’s suit is making weird sounds, I can hear it from the shower.” She shouted down. “It’s beeping, can’t you hear it?”

Over the arguments, the laughter, and the humming of the crickets in the long grass, neither Maria nor Carol had heard the loud insistent beeping of Carol’s suit inside on the end of the bed. Monica, noticing her mother’s concern, dived back inside the house and was outside with the suit in her arms in seconds. Carol took it from her roughly, offering her an apology with her eyes, and studied over it quickly.

The beeping was coming from her right gauntlet, which was flashing a blinding yellow instead of its usual royal red. Some of the light was covered, mostly by the fact the suit was so covered in dirt. Carol frowned at it.

“It’s a message.” She stated, glancing up at the Rambeau women briefly.

“From who?” Monica asked excitedly, only restrained by her mother’s gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

“Is it Fury?” Maria also questioned, getting an outraged glance from Monica.

Carol shrugged, and pressed the activation button on the gauntlet. A small hologram popped up, the moment it did Carol gestured to Monica silently and furiously. “Close your eyes.” She demanded.

Maria complied by quickly ushering the girl indoors, much to her frustrations. Once Monica was out of sight, Carol opened the message properly with Maria sat by her side eagerly. Despite the bright blue of the hologram, Maria could tell the messenger was a black woman – and looked scarily familiar. Untamed hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, but kept the curly look to it. She was dressed in a black stealth uniform, stood to military attention, a clipboard held in the crook of her elbow.  

The message was static, probably due to the damage the suit had sustained in its landing. “W—where….a-a-arrrrrre…..” The message cut out after about two seconds, the hologram flickered for a moment or two – and then promptly died out.

“The signal – it’s gotta be jammed by the…uh…time flip.” Carol muttered, fiddling with the dirty gauntlet. “I should be able to fix it – can you help me back into bed?”

When the dark-haired woman didn’t reply, Carol looked up. Maria was staring at where the hologram had been, an expression of pride and wonder written all over her face. Carol let her have a moment, smiling at her friend’s face fondly. Maria’s fingers pressed into Carol’s borrowed shirt gently, leaning against her a little.

“I-in a minute. Was that-?” She whispered, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth.

Carol grinned, returning a thumbs-up. “Sure was.” She replied, clapping her good hand on Maria’s shoulder. “That was Monica Rambeau-Hill, head of S.H.I.E.L.D.”


End file.
